Which to use
“it's” is a contraction and “items” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #55
- “it's” frequency rank
- #1,726
- “items” frequency rank
- 1781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | it's | items |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contraction of it + is. | plural of item |
Where the eye mixes it's and items
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between it's and items
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: it's is /ɪts/ while items is /ˈaɪ.təmz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
it's is recorded at frequency rank #55, classified as acontraction, pronounced /ɪts/. items is at rank #1,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪ.təmz/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 1781, this pair ranks #526,669 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of it's vs items
Shared letters: ist. Private to "it's": -. Private to "items": em.
"it's" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "items" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- items ← ietms · itemms · itemss · itesm · ittems
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "it's" for "items" ever safe?
Which is more common, "it's" or "items"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "it's" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "items" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #526,669 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "it's" and "items" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ices vs items". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #526,669 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.